Spätzle and Vanilla Ice Cream

Besides the usual Swiss chocolates I brought back from my recent trip, I wanted to bring Leo some typical Swiss food products.

So Laura and I went off to the local Migros (apparently there are only 2 grocery store chains in Switzerland--Migros and and the smaller Coop, pronounced like what a chicken lives in and not a hippie grocery store) and she helped me pick out typical Swiss foods.

(Yes, I'm sure there's tons more typical Swiss foods, but I needed to find stuff that was small enough to fit in my suitcase and was non-perishable).

The photo above is what we came up with.

The Rosti is basically like a potato pancake that you fry on both sides. It was pretty good, but I'm told homemade is much better.

The Farmer Soft Choc bars are basically like a Kudos bar but they have coconut in them. Yum!.

The Aromat seasoning is something every Swiss person puts on everything (so I've been informed). It has MSG in it, so at first I wasn't too excited. But it is actually pretty good. My taste buds have been deadened due to a salt addiction, but Leo gave it 2 thumbs up and now puts it on just about everything.

However, the funny thing was the Spätzle which is basically a pasta made out of eggs, flour and water. You can eat it plain or with some type of sauce or gravy, like normal pasta.

I brought some back for Leo and made it for him as part of dinner one night.

Leo: What's this?

Me: Egg pasta I brought back from Switzerland. Try it, you'll like it.

Leo: (chewing) Hmmm, pretty good.

After a few more bites.

Leo: Honey, I hate to tell you this, but this isn't pasta.

Me: What are you talking about?

Leo: It's cornmeal. We used to eat it in Puerto Rico, except people there put sugar on it.

Me: I promise you it's not cornmeal, it's egg pasta. I mean I can't read German, but Laura told me it's really popular in Switzerland and that it's an egg pasta.

Leo: Whatever. (said as he's getting up from the couch and going to the kitchen).

A lot of rustling around is then heard from the kitchen, as well as the opening and closing of the refrigerator (freezer?) door.

Leo comes back in the room with his plate, but now there's scoops of white stuff on it. At first I think it's mashed potatoes, until I realize I haven't made any mashed potatoes in awhile.

Me: (realization dawning). IS THAT ICE CREAM ON THE PASTA?

Leo: Yes, and it's delicious! I told you it's better with sugar on it. That's how we do it Puerto Rican style. (ok, he didn't actually say anything (ever) about doing anything Puerto Rican style, but I was on a roll and it just kind of came/typed out. Sorry)

Needless to say, I told my Swiss friend Laura and she was pretty horrified :D

I also brought back some Rivella. (I'm having some serious problems formatting photos for this entry, but the Rivella is at the top of the post). Basically, Rivella is pop that has milk whey added to it. Milk whey is the thin, weedy stuff that comes off the curds of cheese (or something like that).

I have to admit it's not too bad. You wouldn't know you were drinking pop and milk whey unless someone told you. And even now, I'm not too sure....

I guess a few years ago Rivella had tried to branch out but nobody except the Swiss and Germans were having it, so they decided to focus on their key demographic and move eastward into Austria.

There are 4 flavors of Rivella and everyone has their favorites. From what I was told, Swiss parents send this in care packages when their children study abroad.